Is your driver golf swing any different than a 3 or 4 iron shot? Let’s take a second and all be honest about this. When we place the driver in our hands and step onto the teeing area, the first thing that comes into our mind is “I’ve got to knock this out there at least 280 yards so I can make a birdie.” If you’ve never thought about “out-driving” your playing partners you are living in a whole different world because we all want to be “the longest” off the tee. Sorry folks but this is a true recipe for disaster.
The driver has the longest shaft of all the clubs, around 44 to 45 inches. It is the heaviest club used and it is designed to hit the ball farther than all the other clubs. These facts contribute to our strong desire to swing this club so much faster than all of the others. Let’s take the time and examine some common sense physics to the driver golf swing.
The only way for any golfer to truly know how far he or she hits each club is to swing exactly the same on every shot. That being the case, each club is different from the other in that there are different lofts, lengths and weights assigned to each of them. Why then, should a driver be swung any harder than any of the other clubs? Shouldn’t the design of the club determine the distance of the shot instead of how hard it is swung? The answer is a resounding yes! The driver golf swing, in reality, should not be different than any other club in the bag. Should you be able to “crank one” every so often whenever the need arises, you bet you should.
The driver golf swing should be fluid and consistent. Your tempo and timing should be no different than a Wedge shot. There should be no “strong-arming” or overuse of the hands and arms which is the natural tendency, especially with the driver. Try to remember that the farther away you are from a target the harder it is to hit it. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to know that. So, if you are trying to hit an area in the fairway that is 35 yards in width and 250 yards in distance it would seem that accuracy is much more important than distance. Use your normal swing with your driver and watch how much your game improves.
